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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I don’t understand Waitrose.

630 replies

JensonsAcolyte · 04/05/2021 14:40

I just went to the big Waitrose because they stock gochujang paste. I thought I may as well get a few bits, chicken, cereal, crisps, pasta etc. All the sort of stuff that isn’t dinners but filler food.

£90!

For four bags of shopping.

And it didn’t feel special or posh or magical or anything.

Why do people shop there? Is it actually a snobbery thing? We have a Sainsburys, Tesco and Lidl within a mile or so radius as well.

The only thing it had going for it for me was the aforementioned chilli paste that I couldn’t get in Tesco. But other than the Ingredients range, the other ranges they offer aren’t very wide.

Will anyone admit that they shop there out of snobbery/classism? Grin

OP posts:
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7
ilovesooty · 04/05/2021 14:41

Chicken and pasta aren't dinners?

AbsentmindedWoman · 04/05/2021 14:44

4 bags of shopping sounds a fair bit to me?

I mean yes it would be cheaper in Aldi but...everyone knows that?

Original poster
JensonsAcolyte · 04/05/2021 14:44

No, lunches. Sliced chicken. Cost me £7 for two packs! Seven English pounds Shock

OP posts:
Original poster
JensonsAcolyte · 04/05/2021 14:45

I’m just wondering why people use it as their main shop when it would be considerably cheaper and just as convenient elsewhere.

OP posts:
BlackRibboner · 04/05/2021 14:45

I don't find it more expensive for the essentials range, tbh - certainly you can rack up the cost on premium stuff! I do think they have a wider range than most, and the quality is usually decent, so I don't think it's necessarily snobbish to prefer Waitrose.

AnnaSW1 · 04/05/2021 14:46

Is the price actually much different to anywhere else? I shop in Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury's and I never really notice much difference

CounsellorTroi · 04/05/2021 14:47

Four bags of shopping is more than a few bits?

ilovesooty · 04/05/2021 14:47

I don't understand why you didn't do the other shopping in Tesco then. Surely you would do that rather than pay over the odds because you went to Waitrose for one thing.

Thatisnotwhatisaid · 04/05/2021 14:47

I do think it’s a snobbery thing for some people, not all but definitely some and I don’t particularly understand it either.

marplemead · 04/05/2021 14:47

I do a week's shopping there once a month and it comes to around £90. Like you, we do it to stock up on ingredients that we can't get in Sainsbury's, but wouldn't say it feels posh or magical - it's just a supermarket.

BlueLobelia · 04/05/2021 14:47

I shop at Waitrose for specific things also. A particular brand of caesar salad dressing right now - sometimes their fresh pastas. I used to get mortadella there but Lidl stock it for a much better price.

But no, not for every day. It can be madness and I get suckered into the luxurious treaty vibe of it.

Original poster
JensonsAcolyte · 04/05/2021 14:47

@ilovesooty

I don't understand why you didn't do the other shopping in Tesco then. Surely you would do that rather than pay over the odds because you went to Waitrose for one thing.
Sheer laziness tbh.
OP posts:
Happycat1212 · 04/05/2021 14:48

I don’t get it either but we don’t have one anywhere near me so I’ve only ever been in once or twice and it seemed expensive and not that nice

Wotsitsarecheesy · 04/05/2021 14:48

Yes the essentials range is great. I sometimes shop there and can do a full shop quite reasonably, but you do have to choose carefully.

Sparklingbrook · 04/05/2021 14:48

I shop at Waitrose. Click and Collect so no getting sidetracked. It certainly has nothing to do with snobbery or classism. They sell everything I need in one shop.
If I venture in they have Self Scan which I love.

Saucery · 04/05/2021 14:49

It’s not posh or magical but it is cleaner and better organised than the Sainsbury’s down the road and they were very good at arranging queuing etc for social distancing. They were the only supermarket to get in touch to offer me priority delivery slots last March too, so they earned my long term customer loyalty for that, even if they are a bit more expensive.

ilovesooty · 04/05/2021 14:49

I haven't got a Waitrose near me either.

Timeforabiscuit · 04/05/2021 14:49

Its nicer, the lighting doesn't give me a headache, cleaner, less crowded and the brands are on the pricier side.

It's £50 for a basket nowadays, so I'd rather buy in a nicer shop than tesco (with the luxury of choice).

SoupDragon · 04/05/2021 14:49

I’m just wondering why people use it as their main shop

In my case, because it was nearest.

I have switched to Sainsbury's now as I double it up with the one day a week I have to pick DD up from school and it's next door.

There are still some things I prefer from Waitrose but they often have queues outside due to limiting customer numbers so I don't bother.

Brokenpencilsarepointless · 04/05/2021 14:49

Every time I think of waitrose, I think of a friend i had years ago. She and her partner would only eat things from the duchy range, and they were both in very low incomes, renting and he had kids to pay for from a previous relationship ship. Honestly; the mess they got into with debt but wouldn't stop spending extortionate amounts on duchy this, duchy that. And went on and on about how much better their food was than anyone else'. Bloody idiots.

blobblob · 04/05/2021 14:49

We can't comment because we don't know what you bought. £90 might be reasonable.
I shop there because:

  • they treat their staff better
  • they treat their suppliers better
  • their food is generally much better quality - and I don't want to eat rubbish, cheap food
  • they support charities that I support
  • their staff are properly trained and pleasant and polite

I have done cheaper shops before and I feel hard done by because the food's not as nice or I know the supplier's been screwed over or the chickens have lived miserable lives etc etc

You think people shop there for snobbish reasons. Really - why on earth would they?? I'm sick of people moaning and virtue signalling about what they think should happen but supporting businesses that make it less likely.

Chihuahuacat · 04/05/2021 14:50

I don’t regularly shop there but I do find the experience nicer. It’s usually less busy, the aisles are wider, there’s nice treat food.

If I had lots of money I probably would shop there. The meat is also a nice quality.

Saucery · 04/05/2021 14:50

If I wanted to be truly posh and magical I’d do every weekly shop at Booths Wink

Londonmummy66 · 04/05/2021 14:52

I like Waitrose but it always seems really busy which is frustrating for a big shop. SO I normally do the big shop at Sainsburys and pop into Waitrose periodically for things Sainsburys don't sell like Parmesan grissini. Also, Waitrose are the only supermarket that sell precooked quails eggs - life to short to shell your own....

user1477249785 · 04/05/2021 14:52

OP you are doing that thing where you assume that other people's lives are the same as yours. I shop at Waitrose before it is the most convenient supermarket for me (and I don't have a Tesco's or Aldi nearby). It's pretty simple.